


little kid (with so much doubt)

by stardustgirl



Series: Mistborn AU [2]
Category: Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Allomancy, Angst, But It's Not Sabezra, Child Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Ezra Bridger Needs a Hug, Ezra's like...16/17ish in this?, House Politics, How Do I Tag, Hurt Ezra Bridger, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, It Just Parallels Vin and Elend's Meeting Because I Thought It Fit, Mistborn AU, More Implied Than Anything But, No Plot/Plotless, Oops, Parallels, Parallels to Vin, Parallels to Vin and Elend's First Meeting, Party, Past Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Politics, Prequel, Prologue, Pryce actually has a husband apparently and he's in this but he's mean too so we hate him, Save Ezra Bridger 2k19, Some Plot, Someone Save This Poor Child, Teenage Ezra Bridger, Well - Freeform, kind of, probably not, to the one i posted earlier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 23:35:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18537751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustgirl/pseuds/stardustgirl
Summary: He has much more important things to worry about than some girl from one of the smaller noble houses.  Like surviving tonight. And the next week.|~~~|Ezra is forced to remind everyone of his father's power.(You don't necessarily need to have read Mistborn to understand this!)





	little kid (with so much doubt)

**Author's Note:**

> someone take these characters away from me ahaaaa
> 
> Title from "Turning Out" by AJR.
> 
> TW: Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drowning Attempt

_“There are those doubting the existence of my Allomancer.”  He swallows, choking on nothing as the grip on his shoulder tightens.  “Do you_ understand? _”_

_“Yes, F- Master.”  Another squeeze on his shoulder, directly on the bruise from only a few hours ago.  He whimpers._

_“Good.”_

Ezra rolls his shoulders back, trying to seem at ease as he moves throughout the crowd.  The large number of people unsettles him; he’s used to either keeping to himself indoors during the day or to roaming the streets alone at midnight, with only the mists as company.  The crowd is stifling, their mass of unknown emotions pressing down on him like the water he’d been forced under in an attempt to Snap. It takes all his energy not to try and Soothe them all, but he knows that that’s not conducive to him getting through this (and through the next week) alive.

_“If you fail this, if you act out before I have instructed you to do so, you know what will happen.”_

_“Of course, Master.”_

He nearly avoids stumbling into a skaa carrying a tray with several goblets, almost apologizing before he catches himself.

_Watch yourself, Father’ll kill you if he hears you apologized to a_ skaa. _Even if you two aren’t so different._

The skaa gives a muted apology instead, but he’s already moving past, scanning the crowd for a way out of it before he suffocates.  He finds it, restraining himself from bolting there, and barely resisting sagging in relief as he slumps into a chair at one of the small tables on the perimeter.  Finally, he can _breathe._

_Lady Pryce slaps him, screaming about some mistake he’s made in the last week that’s only served to push their House farther to the brink of the Lord Ruler’s favor.  She’s about to do so again when his father steps in between._

_“If he appears like that in public, people will_ wonder, _” he hisses.  Huffing, she shoots him a glare he pretends not to notice as he hugs the wall.  “Save his discipline for after.”_

“Hey, I’m _talking_ to you.”

He jumps at the voice, forcing his racing nerves to settle as he realizes his mistake.  Ezra stands quickly, opening his mouth to apologize for sitting at the already-occupied table when the young woman shakes her head, abruptly grabbing his wrist and pulling him back down without ever standing herself.  He has to consciously think about stopping himself from flinching back, but she doesn’t seem to notice. Her hair is dark, amber eyes sharp as she takes him in.

“I didn’t- didn’t mean to sit here, didn’t notice you, I can go--”

“Just stop _rambling._ ”  He shuts up immediately.  “Look, you sitting here is just a further deterrent to the rest of the guys here.  I don’t really care, as long as you don’t try anything, okay? Just be quiet.”

He gives a short, sharp nod, glancing over his shoulder to scan the crowd briefly.  No sign of his father. Yet.

“So what’s your name?  Don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

His head whips around to meet her gaze again.  “E- Ezra,” he answers quickly.

“Ezra _what?_ ”

“Bridger,” he answers hesitantly, blinking.

“Oh.”  Her mouth twists slightly into a near-frown, and he stiffens.  She can’t be seeing through him this quickly. “Sabine Wren,” she offers at long last.

He shakes her hand, silently confused at the callouses he feels on it before she breaks off the contact.  She’s clearly a noble, maybe she’s also an Allowmancer? Maybe they’ve taught her how to defend herself in the mists?

Maybe she actually _got_ a teacher, unlike him.

“Wren...don’t think I’ve heard that one before,” he replies at long last.

“Oh, it’s not in Luthadel.  It’s...outside.” She gestures vaguely to the window behind them, and Ezra nods slowly.  “I’m staying there at the moment because my father’s trying to work out a trade deal. My uncle sent me here, in case the deal works out, so I can get used to Luthadel.”

The story seems off to him.  Maybe it’s the way she’s saying it or just that he genuinely _hasn’t_ heard of House Wren, but it puts him on edge more.  Its similarity to the story Pryce had fabricated for his presence at the party doesn’t help, either.  He nods again.

“Yeah, I’m actually in a similar position...my, um, dad sent me up to my cousin’s father-in-law’s to, ah, ‘learn more about act- actual society.’  So.”

Sabine makes an odd sound, eyes glittering in a way that makes him think she’s withholding a laugh.  “Ah.”

“Yeah…” he responds lamely, resisting the urge to run a hand through his now-shortened hair.

_“I thought I told you to cut this mess a week ago.”_

_“I- I guess I didn’t,” he says in a weak attempt at defiance.  It only earns him a rough shove between the shoulder blades as he’s pushed to the ground, breath catching._

“Ezra!”

At the call he jumps, turning though he doesn’t need to see to know who called.  He turns back to Sabine, standing. “I- I have to go--”

She nods, gesturing.  “By all means.” He nods as well, turning and re-entering the crowd.

He starts burning the metals he ingested earlier, saving copper for last as usual.  As he prepares to stop Seeking, however, he catches a flicker of _something_ from behind.  Zinc, maybe?

He shrugs it off as the crowd envelopes him again.  Sabine hadn’t struck him as a Rioter.  But he has much more important things to worry about than some girl from one of the smaller noble houses.  Like surviving tonight. And the next week.

He burns his pewter more intensely.

**Author's Note:**

> When you're sick, apparently you stay in bed all day and write even _more_ Mistborn AUs that no one asked for instead of working on Hear the Falconer's sequel like you should be doing :)


End file.
